Page 79 of The Last Man on Earth
“I used to look up. Every day. All day. Looking for planes. But I don’t now. My head is always down. Lookin’ for food, or wood, or shit that’ll keep us alive.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “I still look up.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. But only to see the clouds move. I think it reminds me that time is still passing.”
Her words hang there between us.
I think about telling her what I suspect. It’s been sitting heavy on my mind the last few days. But I keep it close. I don’t wanna scare her.
So I clear my throat and say, “I got a weird question.”
“Hmm?”
“You ever had your period out here?”
She looks at me, surprised. “No. But that’s because I’ve been taking my pills every day. No placebos. That keeps it from coming.”
I nod slowly like any of that made sense to me. “Yeah. I can see that.”
She smiles faintly, like she’s amused by my awkwardness. “Why do you ask?”
“Just curious. I was wondering what it might be like for you without your lady things.”
“Tampons?”
“Yeah. All that.”
She laughs, squeezing my hand tighter. “Your mind wanders over the weirdest things.”
“Guess so.”
We pass the HELP sign just before we get to the tree line. Ari stops for a second, frowning over the lines. They’re jagged now, probably from the wind. She usually fixes it, but today, she just…keeps on walking.
Chapter 38
Ari
The nausea rolls throughme in waves, relentless and sickening.
I’m dizzy, too. I feel fucking horrible.
And I know exactly who to blame.
Vincent is crouched next to the fire pit, turning over the fish with a stick. The smell makes my stomach turn.
I hate him.
“So, that fruit you gave me was poisonous!” I announce.
And he has the nerve to chuckle at that. “The fruit was fine, bae.”
“Then why do I feel sick?”
“I ate the same thing you did and I’m fine.”
Yeah. When we returned to the fruit spot yesterday, the yellow one was the only one that got eaten. But I still wasn’t completely sold. Vincent ate a big chunk of the one he kept here and we waited all day. He was fine.
